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60 Days of Summer: Week 3

This week, we had our holiday in Northumberland. We went with my parents, my sister and brother-in-law, and my parents’ dog, Petra.

I love Northumberland. Tim knows it really well, having studied there, and we went 3 years ago for a weekend celebrating our wedding anniversary. So when my parents suggested going for a week for our family holiday, we signed up straight away.

We live quite a long way from my parents, so having a holiday together for a week in the summer is a great way for them to spend lots of quality time with Ben. We had a great time in Essex last year, and a great time this year. UK holidays are excellent when you have a small child: you can take your car, you don’t have to worry about the heat, things are familiar enough for the child to be happy and it’s easy to arrange a doctor’s visit or a babysitter if necessary.

The house we stayed at was in Warkworth, and part of Tidal Properties. It was right next to the river, so on the first day we hired a boat and rowed upstream. Ben hated the first five minutes but loved it as soon as he got to help row. We didn’t let the men row the whole time, but they were a bit more skilled than my mum and I! I should also point out that in the photo we had our coats on because of a very short shower; the rest of the day was beautifully sunny.

The one place everyone wanted to go to was Alnwick castle, so we planned this for Monday. Tim and I had been before as it was our main destination on our anniversary weekend. There was one reason for this, originally: some of the first two Harry Potter films were shot there. With me being a massive Harry Potter fan, we spend most of our time on that visit in the castle. This time, as it was a beautiful day and we had Ben with us, we only visited the gardens.

Alnwick gardens were surely designed with children in mind. These fantastic dumper trucks were occupied all day, and Ben was lucky to grab one as soon as we arrived. The children can scoop up water from the fountain and then redistribute it elsewhere. There was also a scheduled water fight, as well as loads of interactive water features. The rest of the gardens are both fascinating and beautiful.

We were lucky enough to grab a table at the Treehouse cafe for lunch, which was much more reasonably priced than I expected. We eventually left around 2.30pm, with Ben falling asleep in his pushchair on the way back to the car. I cannot remember the last time he just fell asleep in his buggy, so he must have been suitable exhausted.

With family holidays, we’ve found it works well to alternate busy days with quiet ones, so we spend Tuesday pottering on Warkworth beach. Northumberland beaches are beautifully sandy, and with hardly anyone there. This was really the first time Ben has spent much time on the beach, and in between building sandcastles, paddling, collecting shells and pebbles, running and flying a kite, he had the time of his life.

I love this photo of my sister – you can really see her baby bump!

On Wednesday, we went to The Holy Island of Lindisfarne, which gets cut off from the main land at high tide. This is a really beautiful, dramatic place, with the ruins of a medieval priory and a castle in a stunning landscape.

We had another day on the beach on Thursday. Ben also tried beach cricket with his Dad, Grandad and Uncle Simon. We also booked a babysitter and went out for a grown-ups only meal.

Friday was the only rainy day we had on holiday. After a morning trip to Craster and Seahouses, we had a little family party for Ben, who turned 2 on 4th August. Tim baked and decorated this cake, with a seaside theme. The party was complete with Pass the Parcel and ‘Hop Little Bunnies,’ and everyone joined in.

On Saturday we headed home after a lovely holiday. When I was putting Ben to bed, I realised I hadn’t taken a photo of him that day, so I snapped this quickly as he was brushing his teeth.

I’m not very keen on the quality of my photos in WordPress at the moment. If anyone can give me any advice, please let me know!

We love Northumberland, it was my son’s first ‘proper’ holiday and I’d love to go back. We enjoyed Alnwick Castle but didn’t get to the gardens. Next time! We loved Lindisfarne too. Thank for linking up to #WHWH